urbanhermit

When I read "Camping World" my thoughts ran in the same direction.

My thought. Sounds a lot like a bad CV joint. That would not be caused by towing.

I am seriously bummed. We recently traded a high-mileage MKS for a very low-mileage MKC, and later sunk too much into a Cobalt stick shift for a TOAD -- almost as much as the real-world trade allowance on the MKS. Had I thought the MKS could have been towed flat, I'd have gone that route and been a lot happier. Due diligence wasn't due enough.

How about someone replaced an original, failed regulator with a generic that doesn't have adjustment screws?

For general information, I learned this today: We thought the dash air had started running any time the ignition was on and that we were getting no response at all from any of the three controls (FoMoCo products in our case). Since diesels don't generate vacuum, there is a vacuum pump somewhere, I suppose usually in the nose. Two small hoses, as thin as 12-gauge wire, one white and one black in my case, connect to the flaps and whatnot that control air flow to feet, dashboard, and defroster vents. If the black one (at least) is pulled loose from its nipple at the dashboard, or is punctured or broken, the vacuum pump will run continuously any time the ignition switch is on, and air will blow only through one set of vents. In my case it's the defrosters. The vacuum pump makes a noise like an air blower, which I though was the case until my coach mechanic explained things to me. For a specific long-explanation reason I asked him only to disconnect electrical service to the pump until another mechanic checks the hose.

I sent back a Bully Dog GT Diesel I intended to use with a Cummins 5.9 in a 24,960 lb coach due to cautions given in this forum and because Bully Dog refused to give me any assistance in finding the right computer download for the application. I'm going to continue to run stock, be very patient through the first dead five seconds of idle, and not try Donner Pass in the summer pulling a loaded extended cab behind me.

I like the setup in our DP, which I assume is pretty typical: big inverter that runs the refrigerator, microwave, and (ACs, I think) underway, without generator, and with the alternator covering the consequent battery drain, and of course running off shore power in parks or camps. We don't boondock but the generator would replace the alternator if we did. We have an older coach with a 120/propane unit, recently installed as a replacement to the original. It serves equally well but requires more frequent topping up of the LP tank. With the gasoline engine on that one gulping at 6.5 to 7 mpg, a little propane for the fridge s negligible.

I had stored in the garage some 3/4-inch Styrofoam batts about 16" by 8'. I cut pieces that fit from door to back wall bins and "squoze" vertically into place and with them made custom-width compartments for toaster oven, plates (stacked in Z-folded small bubble bubble wrap), and other items. Ain't pretty but the price was right and it's effective. Did this also in some drawers to separate stuff. We also use that non-skid rubber roll, cut to fit. If it getting dragged out of position by putting stuff in and taking stuff out starts to annoy me, I'll staple it down with the shortest staples I can find.

The Executive Department didn't like the mirrors on the walls between galley counter backsplash and wall cabinets. They were on the coach's side wall and the wall between the galley countertop and the refrigerator. That wall is thin, flimsy, and flexible. So, once the replacement tile was selected -- 12" squares because we didn't find interlocking tiles that she liked -- The process was this: 1. Put up a 1/8 aluminum plate over the entire flimsy wall surface to be covered by the tile (less 1/8 inch on the horizontal measurement, something I didn't do but should have for a reason to be explained). I went to an aluminum fabrication shop I've used before and for $10 they cut me a piece 17" (the vertical dimension) x 20" (horizontal dimension from the corner to the outer end of the backsplash), into which I drilled eight small holes with countersinks made with a drill bit slightly thicker than the heads of the small screws (3/8, counter-sunk, stainless, self-tapping) I used to attach it to the wall. Put it in place, poked starter holes in the wall with an ice pick, and sunk the screws. That gave me a rigid surface to which to mount the tile. The inner surface of the coach sidewall was already rock solid. 2. Bought a cheap tile saw, under $50, because I'd recently thrown my previous cheap tile saw away. 3. Be aware that 12" tile squares from Overstock.com come with three straight sides and one slightly wavy side. I assume that is industry standard. Cut the uneven sides straight and perfectly parallel with the opposite side, taking off minimum material, about the thickness of the blade. 4. Cut the odd-width piece -- for me, 20" less 12" x 2 = 6") and use white Loktite or equivalent mastic to stick it in place in the corner of the refrigerator wall, flush against the top of the backsplash. Lay a thin trail of mastic U-turning it about 2" apart, back and forth across the whole back face of the tile and keeping an inch away from the edges. Press firmly into place and keep the pressure on for a minute or so if you've detected any bow in the aluminum place (it'll probably go on perfectly flat). Do the same with the two 12" squares. 3. Measure the vertical distance from the top of the tile to the bottom of the wall cabinets. Reduce that by 1/8 inch for safety and cut four or five strips, as needed, of that dimension from the remainder of the third tile and mastic them in, starting at the outer end, carefully lining up the outer edge with the tile below, and work into the corner. 4. Decide where you want the long tile run to end, making sure you have enough tile to cut the top strips, and repeat the process, again starting from the corner and working out so that the seam between long tile and short tile is as far back and as inconspicuous as possible. 5. You'll have visible vertical hairline gaps between tiles. From the tile department, not the paint department, of Lowes or Home Depot or similar, get a tube of water soluble colored caulk that will best blend with your tile. Lay very fine beads over the gaps and work it in with your fingers until the gaps are well filled. Don't neglect the gap in the corner. Clean off the excess first with a dry paper towel, then a wet one, and finally scrub the surface well with the coarse side of a wet 3M dishwashing sponge. This last step will remove the sheen that cleaning the caulk off will leave. 6. Remember that 1/8" reduction in the horizontal dimension of the aluminum plate? The edge of the plate will now be recessed 1/8" behind the tile. Fill that groove with the colored caulk and you will hide bright edge of the plate. Smear the raw edge of the tile with the colored caulk and clean any that gets on the surface of the tile as described above. 6. If you want to guild the lily, there are numerous sources for 3/4-inch outside corner molding, which is just right to cover the raw edge of the tile. On-line sources offer a wide variety of finishes so that this trim can match or nearly match the carpentry of your coach. Very carefully cut that to length (I recommend a hack saw to get a clean edge). You will need to strip away some of one side of the piece for the tile that is not backed by aluminum to reduce the inner dimension to the thickness of your tile; it should be just right without trimming to cover the thickness of the tile plus the aluminum plate at the end of the short run. Stick the trim pieces in place with a minimal amount of mastic so as not to generate an annoying clean-up job. If you've got a top edge too you'll have to make a really good miter joint for best appearance. As I had done some previous woodwork that required staining raw wood to match the cabinetry, I cut my own corner molding from stock on hand and stained it with the custom color stain I'd had a paint store mix, and then varnished with semi-gloss. I glued the mitered ends of the two pieces together with Elmer's wood glue, in a miter clamp that held them firmly together at exactly right angles and in full contact. Such clamps are available from custom wood working tool shops and maybe from Lowes or Home Depot, are cast pot metal, and so inexpensive buying to use once is reasonable. NOTE: Order at least 20% more tile than you think you need. You'll need it/them even if you don't make mistakes. I ordered one extra and had four pieces 2" by 4" left over.)

This supports impressions I've gotten of both -- Camping World through direct experience, walking out of a closing at the Biloxi, MS store when over $3,000 of previously unmentioned fees were disclosed, including an $1800+ "delivery fee" -- "It costs us money to go get it and bring it here to sell." Good Sam from posts on this forum. I've been subtly criticized for making a negative post about a vender, but such posts have been as valuable to me as positive recommendations. Thank you, Equag, and others here.

I have no direct knowledge of Wholesale Warranties. But I think I remember, in shopping for an EW, that I saw negative comments, to the point of lawsuit, from WW policyholders. With any of them, due diligence is definitely a good idea.

A few nights after The Executive Department and I (Management) married, we were drifting off to sleep when she said "You know what?" Being a congenital smartass I said "Yeah, I know what." You'd think there'd be at least a half-moment of silence. There was not. Before my lips stopped moving she was up on one elbow, her had over mine, and said "No you don't !" We got it straight right from the beginning that I don't know what, and it's been a good marriage ever since.

I don't drink.

Update: O'Reilly's said they could send it back and recover even though some of the original internal packing is gone. Back it goes. Worst customer service I've ever experienced from Bully Dog. The one millennial I was able to talk to, in other words, told me to go to ****. Oh. okay, told me to go to * * * * . (This is no place for theological discussions, is it?)

Crazy thought: What about painting over a mold-infested DS?

jleamont, thank you. Despite my "Diesels for Dummies," I've got a bit of general technical knowledge and what you wrote is very clear and understandable to me. Shall I take from this that any fiddling with stock ECU parameters is a step away from designed reliability/durability, and if so, would a mild remapping might not be too undesirable but as the "push" gets more extreme, the dangers increase proportionately? Is there anything to the idea that a mild mapping would do little more than negate EPA regs and provide no more stress on components than for the same engine mapped for off-road, construction, or marine?

Okay, gentlemen, I'm taking this thread very seriously and thank you all for your input, especially Dave's take as a retired diesel mechanic. So -- Dave -- please explain, as Diesels For Dummies, what is meant by overdriving the sensors. I understand (?) this involves electric signals from the ECU to the sensors, or vise versa --- and that you say over time the overdriving will begin damaging sensors and shut the engine down, even cause severe internal damage. But can you be more specific about that? Also, while I clearly see the reasoning that the manufacturer's specifications and ECU profiles are set with a great deal more authority than an aftermarket chip manufacturer's, what about the restraints put on manufacturers by the fed to meet the environmental standards of hysterics in California, where every substance on God's green earth is known to cause cancer or destroy the ozone layer? My original impression was that Bully Dog's mildest (at least) of it's three settings did little more than engineer around the choking down (figurative expression) to meet the environmental compromises, like taking the smog pump of a 1975 Dodge Cordoba (you can judge my era and consequent lack of real knowledge about all this). Bully Dog warns that their extreme profile will necessitate significant transmission mods, even replacement, in pickups, but I wouldn't be foolish enough to use that setting. I've listed my brand new BD, with it's chip still sealed inside it's envelope, for sale on craigslist as a result of reading through this thread the first time. That and I can't get the BD people to give me the time of day about installation procedures or how to download the proper data for an engine and vehicle combination their site doesn't list. But I'm in the process of giving up with keen disappointment. My rig is barely alive for the first five or ten seconds away from idle, until a little bit of boost builds, and I'm disappointed with the fuel consumption.

Thank you.

The owner of a very well respected heavy duty automotive garage here told me Bully Dog was far and away the best ECU tuner on the market. He also told me the feds are suing the makers of Bully Dog for environmental violations and are trying to get their customer list (one registers one's BD unit and gets updates by e-mail) to sue individuals for the same. "Buy one anonymously from a supplier." I did. O'Reilly's, a listed BD distributor. The O'Reilly's guy and I laughing agreed I was going to put it in a mud bogger. Didn't install it (2006 5.9 Cummins in a 36-foot Monaco Cayman )because it came with a current adapter -- Something2 -- and I had a previous adaptor, Something 1. Now have obtained an adaptor for the adaptor through web research after an unpleasant man at BD told me since I didn't buy it directly from them I had to go back to where I bought it. Rude, curt, and brusque. The O'Reilly's guy did his best over the phone, referred me to an O'Reilly's parts specialist, who said he'd research and call me. I'm still waiting two weeks later. Have since had two e-mails ignored by BD's manufacturer. This is shaping up to be the worst customer service I've ever experienced. But maybe a good thing. After reading through this thread and some of the one referenced and linked, I'm thinking I wasted $500.

I'm not good at tedium. Put up over 1400 individual 4-1/4 ceramic tiles in a basement bathroom. Took me weeks, a couple hundred tiles at a time. But the incomplete job was well hidden . . . . I dread the prospect of eight to sixteen hours of scraping and rubbing. But for a grand or so? <sigh> Probably in the cards.

Thanks for the caution. Can't engage the prop and dredge the slip with an RV, can you?

Thanks to all who have replied. Weber seems to be doing better than my experience with them, which, I suppose, is a history of neglect. I'd leave ashes for disposal the next day, and the next day I'd forget until the next time I used the grill. It's humid down here, and there's enough salt in the air at my house (not even waterfront) to very quickly dust aluminum with corrosion.

Rustic or bells and whistles?

I live in Pensacola. Those are the flocks of snowbirds. They have a season. We still can't hunt them. Okay, seriously, I'm a grouch so I'll suggest places to stay away from: Key West, Orlando, Miami area. Some good places: St. Marks -- out-of-the-way, quiet, beautiful, interesting visitor's center, the lighthouse itself. Crystal River -- Charlie's restaurant in town. Quail Roost RV Park a little to the northeast. Three interesting dead-end roads to the Gulf between Crystal River and Homosassa, five to ten miles each, but TOWDS only -- you'll think you're an ostrich egg in a hummingbird nest if you try them in anything more than a small Class B or C. Skip Peck's Old Port Cove at the end of N. Ozello Trail. Incredibly beautiful park, beach, pier at Fort Island Beach and Pier, end of County Rd. 44. Blackwater Fins (restaurant/bar) on West Ozello Trail is very good. The Shed is good, out West Yulee Drive. The Freezer Tiki Bar (seafood too, esp. boiled shrimp) on W. Boulevard Dr, south of the end of West Yulee Drive, and better of The Shed is crammed. Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife Preserve on 490A All these are on small roads between 98 and the Gulf and between Crystal River and Homosassa. The race horse area of central Florida is gorgeous for side trips. Naval Aviation Museum if it's open to the public again (check -- I'm not sure, and I live here). Incredibly white sand, emerald and sapphire water at Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach. Cedar Key for local camp, but approach in a big rig with extreme caution. It's bloody cramped down at the end of the road. Oh -- beware of fuel prices on the west coast between Tallahassee and Clearwater, particularly Cross City, Perry, Chiefland; something like a 20-cent-per-gallon rip off. I know I'm only scratching the surface. Major snowbird roosts are Clearwater and The Villages. The wise stay clear.